


promise me tomorrow

by Smudge



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, F/M, Jughead Jones Needs a Hug, Veronica needs a hug, archie doesn't get a hug, happy new year and all that stuff, i am going to say canon divergent because uh, i'm vague like that sometimes, indiscriminate amount of time for a time jump, it gets very soft and floof at the end tho because i'm me 🥺, mentions of jughead punching archie tho, obvious reasons ha, post 4x17, so there's that, veronica is the real mvp here i'm sorry i don't make the rules
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 08:07:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28468008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smudge/pseuds/Smudge
Summary: “He’s staring at you.”“I know.” Betty sighs. “He’s brooding.”“What did you do to him?” Veronica eyes him over Betty’s shoulder. “Kick his puppy?”“I apologized.”“Again?”Betty nods. “Again.”“Must have been some apology.”Or, Betty Cooper hopes for a better year.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 36
Kudos: 205
Collections: 8th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	promise me tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year! May 2021 be the year we thought 2020 would be. Unless you thought it was gonna suck. Then you’re the ones who jinxed us and how dare you? 
> 
> I needed to write this to get it out of my system. I wanted to write it because when I look around at all the people who think redemption and second chances isn’t an attainable goal because so many people are willing to tell them it isn’t, I want them to know that it is. Forgiveness is freely given. Trust is earned. 
> 
> It’s okay to make mistakes and it’s okay to try and make up for them. 
> 
> That being said, I love you guys and see you on the other side! 
> 
> (side note, i really don’t think it’s like a serious amount of angst but i have been informed that my angst threshold is a lot higher than others so, uh, you know, it ends happy, just know that)

_“I never meant to hurt you.”_

_“I know. Does it matter anymore?”_

_“I want it to.”_

_“That’s not what I mean.”_

_“I don’t know how many times you want to hear it but I’ll keep telling you if that’s what you need.”_

_“Don’t.”_

* * *

“He’s staring at you.” 

“I know.” Betty sighs. “He’s brooding.” 

“What did you do to him?” Veronica eyes him over Betty’s shoulder. “Kick his puppy?” 

“I apologized.” 

“Again?” 

Betty nods. “Again.” 

“Must have been some apology.” 

Grabbing her hand, Veronica pulls her towards the table with the mini-cakes she buys specifically for Betty every year. 

“I don’t know what he wants from me,” she admits with a shake of her head, following Veronica dutifully. “I can’t read him like I used to.” 

“Is that why you can’t stop sleeping with him?” 

“V!” Betty’s cheeks turn bright pink as she looks around for anyone who might have overheard. “Seriously?” 

Veronica shrugs. “Is it a secret?” 

“No.” Betty picks up a cake and scrapes at the frosting with a manicured nail. “But maybe it should be.” 

“Why?” 

Pretending she can’t feel his eyes boring into her, she takes a bite of the cake, licking her lower lip to catch a stray bit of frosting before answering, “Because he’s still mad? Because maybe we shouldn’t be doing this at all?” 

“Is that what you want?” The weight of Veronica’s concerned tone makes Betty want to cry. 

“No,” she says quietly, rolling her shoulder inward. “I want him to forgive me. I want to figure it out and if that means never being with him again, then that’s what that means. But at least I can learn to let go.” 

A pair of disbelieving eyes staring at her makes Betty smile sadly. “Well I can try to learn to let go.” 

“I forgave you,” Veronica tells her flippantly with a wave of her hand. “And let’s be honest, I’m way more important than he is.” 

A wet laugh escapes her. “I love you, you know that, right?” 

“Of course!” Veronica exclaims, wrapping an arm around Betty’s shoulders. “I love you too. If it’ll make you feel better, you can apologize to me again, I’ll accept it, and then we can make out a little.” 

“Are you trying to make him jealous or steal me away?” she asks when Veronica rolls up on her tiptoes to smack a wet kiss on her cheek. 

“Both, of course,” she answers, intertwining their fingers. “I hate seeing you like this.” 

“I hate feeling like this.” Betty eats the other half of her little cake, listening to Veronica drone on about someone wearing last year’s Chanel while trying to ignore the feeling of dread building a pit low in her stomach. 

Glancing down at herself, she tries not to feel silly at the effort she’d put into getting ready for Veronica’s annual New Year’s Eve party: a tight, low cut silver sequin dress that Veronica had stuffed her in, the hemline well above her knees; heels that were making her calves burn; meticulously curled hair falling down her back; winged eyeliner that had taken four tries; a manicure that had taken the better part of three hours; and the continual parts of her reminding her that they were still overhot from the waxing that had taken place the day before. 

“Veronica,” Betty says, cutting off the tirade against bad fashion choices. “Didn’t you wear this dress two years ago?” 

She scoffs. “Betty, please. My clothes don’t go out of style.” 

Fighting a laugh, she shakes her head and reaches for a cocktail that’s being walked around by wait staff in black vests and bow ties. 

“What is this?” she asks, taking a drink, coughing when the liquid hits her tongue. “Holy hell, Veronica, is this even safe to drink?” 

“Oh, it’s just something Reggie threw together. He calls it the New Year’s Memory Maker.” 

Betty’s eyes water when she takes another drink the alcohol burns on the way down. “More like memory taker. This is blotto territory.” 

“Sip like a lady, Elizabeth,” Veronica instructs, dragging her towards a crowd of people she’s not sure she’s ever met before. “And put on a smile please, I have some men I want you to meet.” 

“V—” 

“You’ve got to stop punishing yourself,” Veronica interrupts. “He’s emotionally unavailable—” 

“He’s hurt!” 

“He’s being a jerk!” Veronica hisses before plastering on a smile, ignoring her own outburst. “I get it more than anyone, you know that, right? I was hurt and angry too. You can only spend so much energy on that sort of pain before it consumes you.” 

Betty stays quiet, not knowing what to say. She thinks she might have let her guilt eat her alive if Veronica hadn’t shown up one day, heels tapping on the floor with the giant bouquet of yellow roses Betty had sent her the day before in her arms. 

_“What’s this?” Veronica had asked, her head held high and her eyes cold. “Do you really think this is the same situation as sophomore year?”_

_“No,” Betty hurriedly replied, shaking her head. Clenching her fists, she swallowed and blinked to keep the tears at bay. “I’m just sorry. That’s it. I did a stupid thing and I’m sorry and I want you to know it.”_

_“Well now I know.”_

_Veronica turned around and walked out of the door._

_Betty closed the door quietly and slid down to the floor at the same time her tears finally broke free._

_The next day she got a single text from Veronica._

**_I’m still mad_ **

_Two days after that, another._

**_Why?_ **

_A week later, after Veronica had ignored the walls of text Betty had sent back to her, she got one more._

**_I thought you loved me more than Archie_ **

_Betty spent the night crying after that one. Her simple text back of_ **_I do_ ** _went unanswered like the rest. Not that she had expected differently, but she hoped Veronica, if nothing else, could breathe a little easier even if Betty felt like her chest was going to cave in at any moment._

_Another week later, Betty answered the door at seven in the morning on a Sunday._

_Veronica, with crossed arms and red-rimmed eyes stood in front of her._

_“Veronica.”_

_“I can’t sleep.” Veronica’s chin wobbled and she took a deep breath before continuing. “So I figured if I can’t sleep, then you don’t get to sleep, and that means we’re going to breakfast.”_

_Betty stared at her, her mouth falling open in shock. “Breakfast?”_

_“Yes,” Veronica informed her curtly. “I suggest you find shoes because I’m not waiting for you to get dressed.”_

_“Yeah, yeah,” Betty stuttered out, grabbing her keys and bag from the small table by the door, deciding the sandals tucked neatly under the same table were good enough. “Of course.”_

_Veronica spun on her heel, marching down the hall before Betty could do more than lock the door and hurry after her, still in her pink and white pajamas covered in yellow stars._

_Breakfast was silent and uncomfortable, and Betty cried for another day after Veronica dropped her off, saying a quiet goodbye with no promise of seeing her again._

_A month later, Veronica showed up at seven in the evening. Wearing a deep burgundy cocktail dress, she looked at Betty with dark eyes._

_“My date canceled. The least you can do is accompany me to this stupid party so I can network.”_

_“Sure. Anything you need,” Betty replied, wondering if it would be weird to admit to Veronica that she already knew where she worked and had her fingers crossed that her internship turned into a full time position after graduation._

_“Wear black,” Veronica instructed, walking past her into Betty’s living room, sitting primly on one of the chairs to wait for her to get dressed._

_Another week passed without a word after a perfunctory goodnight before Betty got a text._

**_I am thoroughly offended you’re still wearing clothes from Riverdale_ **

_Betty laughed until she cried, holding her phone against her chest as she tried to keep her breathing even. Shakily, she sent the only answer she could come up with._

**_I was waiting for my best friend to take me shopping_ **

_Immediately, the response came through._

**_Give me another month and I’ll see what I can do_ **

It had been painful and humbling, but Veronica letting Betty back into her life might have been what kept her whole over the last few years. 

“And this is Betty,” Veronica announces, breaking through the reverie that Betty had let herself get lost in. 

Smiling widely, she fakes it for Veronica, shaking the hand of a man whose name she forgot within a second of hearing it. “Nice to meet you.” 

“Veronica has told me nothing but great things about you,” the man says with a too-wide smirk. He’s well dressed and handsome, but Betty feels nothing but the vague nausea of knowing she’s being watched by the man she’d rather be with. 

“She does me too much justice then, I’m afraid,” Betty tells him with a tight lipped half-smile, trying to discreetly look over her shoulder. 

Running his gaze across her body, he raises a single brow at her. “I doubt that.” 

She wants to rub her hands across her face and dress, wiping the feel of his uninvited admiration off of her, as if it will help her escape up to the roof where she knows she can get some fresh air uninterrupted. 

With an affected laugh, she leans back and takes another sip of her drink, the flash of a dark buttoned up shirt walking through the crowd capturing all of her attention. 

“Will you excuse me?” she asks with a sweet smile, handing him her glass and walking away while Veronica is distracted, leaving her still nameless companion confused at her hasty departure. 

Following him down the hall she’s almost certain he went down, the sound of her heels clicking on the floor makes her wince with how loud they are. When she can’t find him, she sags against the wall with a heavy sigh before making her way to the roof, avoiding Veronica’s worried glances and pointless small talk from people she only sees twice a year at most. 

Leaning against the metal railing, she’s staring at the night sky when she hears footsteps coming up behind her. 

“He ran off,” Veronica tells her gently, laying a hand between her shoulder blades. 

“I know.” 

Betty closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before turning to her best friend with a sad smile. 

“He left while you were introducing me to that guy.” Betty winces. “And he saw Archie talking to me yesterday.” 

Veronica exhales loudly next to her. “Do you remember when he punched him? Right after it all came out?” 

She almost laughs. It’s not funny but she doesn’t know what else to do. 

“Yeah. And then he told Archie not to talk to me or him ever again.” 

Veronica does laugh. “Oh god, do you remember Archie’s response? 

Snorting, Betty can’t stop the giggles that come with that memory. “He asked if he meant you or me.” 

“I thought Jughead was going to explode!” Veronica exclaims. “His face, B! There he was, shaking out his fist after relocating Archie’s nose and telling him how he would have thought that some low level brain damage could have only helped him.” 

“God,” Betty starts, holding her middle from the inappropriate snickering she can’t seem to control, “I shouldn’t be laughing but—” 

“It’s hilarious,” Veronica says, grabbing her hand. 

“It’s not.” Betty shakes her head. “It’s awful.” 

Covering her mouth, Betty can’t seem to stop the giggles and the tears streaming down her face before they turn into wracking sobs against Veronica’s shoulder. 

“I regret it all, Veronica. You have to believe me,” she mumbles against Veronica’s hair, clutching the back of her dress while breathing in the expensive scent of whatever perfume she’d chosen for the night. 

“I know you do,” Veronica promises. “He does too, he just needs to let himself believe it.” 

“I heard you, you know,” Betty whispers. “The other day? When you thought I wasn’t home? I heard everything.” 

“Oh, Betty,” Veronica murmurs softly, stroking her hair. “I’m sorry.” 

_Betty had woken up from a nap, hearing Veronica answer the door and telling whoever it was that she wasn’t there. Too tired to interact with anyone anyway, Betty was just about to trudge back to her warm bed when she heard Veronica’s sharp voice._

_“Do you still love her, Jughead?”_

_“Of course I do!”_

_“Then what’s the problem?”_

_A loud exhale._

_“Sometimes I resent her as much as I love her.”_

_A gasp. “Jughead.”_

_“How do I fix it, Veronica?”_

_“Stop punishing her.”_

_“Is that what you did?” She heard him lean back, the fabric of the sofa wrinkling as he moved. “Did you just decide one day to forgive her?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“And Archie?”_

_She swore she could almost hear Veronica swallow._

_“That’s not the same thing.”_

_“Isn’t it?”_

_“Do you know what Archie told me after?” Veronica let the question hang for a moment. “He kept telling me how Betty kept saying she loved you. How he loved me. And you know what? That’s what I thought about, I kept thinking about how Betty had to remind him he loved me. That they were stupid and selfish and my best friend kissed my boyfriend and my boyfriend was the one that needed to be reminded that he loved me. Betty never mentioned it once, she never tried to tell me she’s the one who stopped it, that she reminded him he loved me. She just owned her mistakes and apologized.”_

_Veronica’s voice was shaky._

_“So no, Jughead, I don’t think it’s the same. I think she made a mistake and if you can’t forgive her for it, tell her and let her go. Letting her hate herself to make yourself feel better isn’t going to fix anything.”_

_“I’m not trying to make myself feel better,” Jughead denied, anger rising in his voice._

_Betty knew he was running a hand through his hair. Probably glaring at Veronica._

_“Yes you are.” Veronica’s voice was firm. “I know she hurt you—”_

_“We were supposed to be for forever, Veronica! How do I get over that? Tell me,” Jughead begged, cutting her off._

_“What are you doing with her now? Fucking your anger out until there’s nothing left of her? Why?”_

_“I can’t let her go,” Jughead admitted, his voice low._

_“Why?” Veronica asked again. “Why not? Do you like the person you’ve become? What you’re turning her into?”_

_“I hate it.” A pause. “I love her so much, Veronica. It’s killing me.”_

_“Jughead,” Veronica’s tone was sad and sympathetic, “it’s killing her, too. Stop telling me how you feel and tell her instead.”_

_Betty backed into her room, silently shutting the door before letting her tears fall._

“He hates me,” she whimpers, standing up to wipe the tears from under her eyes. “It’s been years and he still hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” Veronica soothes. “He doesn’t know how to handle dealing with the way he still loves you. Which is a him problem, and I say you date all these lovely men I have lined up for you until he figures his shit out.” 

“Veronica.” Betty sniffs. “I don’t want to date anyone.” 

“I know,” she says with a dramatic sigh. “You were a lot easier to fix up on dates before you started sleeping with your ex-boyfriend.” 

“I didn’t mean for that to happen either.” 

_She’d finally relented and let Veronica set her up on a blind date. “Years, Betty!” Veronica had yelled, throwing an almost too tight little black dress at her._

_And it hadn’t been years, even if Veronica proclaimed it. She’d accepted dates before. Her therapist had recommended it, even if she’d pretended it hadn’t made her feel nauseous the first time._

_A nice guy, the first one after Jug. So sweet and earnest, he’d known nothing about Riverdale, who her family was, or what she’d done. She said yes with a stiff smile and only threw up twice before he picked her up two nights later._

_Shaking off the memory of all the ill-conceived dates she’d accepted after that, she stood in the entrance of the restaurant Veronica had told her to be at, debating with herself whether or not to go in._

_He looked so put together, she thought, staring at the only man holding a yellow rose lingering near the hostess stand. Tall, dark, and painfully handsome._

_It seemed Veronica knew her type, she thought ruefully. A guy who was friends with one of the guys Veronica had been casually dating, she’d been told. Saw her on Veronica’s socials and asked to be introduced. Successful. Had his own place and apparently had a good relationship with his parents._

_A unicorn of a man, Veronica had insisted while digging through Betty’s closet._

_A puff of air forced through her cheeks in apprehension had been taken as agreement in Veronica’s mind, and the date set before Betty had even had much of a chance to think too much about it._

_It was almost like she conjured him through her thoughts alone when she backed away from the door, stepping directly back into someone._

_“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she apologized, turning around before her eyes widened in shock. “Jug.”_

_“Betty.” The surprise is clear in his tone. His gaze ran over her and she swallowed a shiver at the intensity of his attention. “How are you?”_

_“What?” she replied dumbly before blushing. “Fine, fine. How are you?”_

_“I’m good,” he answered, his hands finding their way deep into his pockets. “Big date?”_

_“Veronica.” Betty lifted a shoulder. “You know how she is.”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“You?”_

_She hated that he looked so unaffected. So put together and calm when she was dying inside, even if it was an unfair thought to have._

_“Meeting some friends for dinner,” he told her, a strained smile gracing the features she’d missed so much._

_“Sounds fun,” Betty said, feeling awkward and stupid._

_“I guess.” Jughead shrugged, exhaling before continuing. “You look good.”_

_Her breath almost caught at the unexpected compliment. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been yelling and she’d been crying. “Why, Betty?” he’d yelled, fingers clenching into fists as he’d grabbed his hair. “After everything we’ve been through? What happened to being together forever? “_

_Crying, she’d shook her head and reached for him until he’d backed up out of her reach. She’d ended up on her knees, bent over and sobbing into her own lap before she’d been gathered up his arms to cry against his chest._

_“I’m sorry,” she kept repeating between trying to catch her breath and twisting her hands into his shirt, not letting him go._

_“I know,” he’d whispered, pushing her hair off her face before he’d picked her up and carried her to the bed._

_She’d been desperate for him and he’d allowed it, making love to her until she’d fallen into a fitful sleep._

_He’d been gone in the morning when she’d woken up._

_Pulled back to the present, she smiled. “So do you.”_

_And he did. It’d been a couple years, at least. He rolled back on his heels and she could almost feel the indecision radiating off of him. Swallowing, he met her gaze with a determined stare._

_“Wanna catch up?” he asked._

_Her eyes widened._

_“You ditch whatever rich suit Veronica set you up with and I’ll ditch the dinner I didn’t really want to go to anyway, and we’ll be friends like we used to be for the night, okay?”_

_She nodded quickly, tears springing to her eyes. “I’d like that.”_

_“Good.” He held out his arm for her to take. “Let’s go get a burger, we both know you hate French food.”_

_A watery laugh escaped her. She did. She hated it._

_That they ended up in her bed again shouldn’t have surprised her. He’d held her against a wall kissing and biting her neck as she’d run her fingers through his hair, the beanie she’d made for him years earlier long gone before they’d made it to her bed, neither one of them willing to say anything to break the spell that might make them rethink what they knew was about to happen._

_The slight movement of the mattress below her woke her up in the dim light of her bedroom. Holding her breath, she pretended to be asleep while listening to him get dressed. She wondered if she’d ever hear from him again, and though her heart screamed out at her to stop him, she knew if he wanted to leave, she had to let him._

_So she did. Her eyes were half-lidded in the barely there sunlight as she watched him hesitate at the door, looking back over his shoulder at her before he silently slipped out of her room and her life once more._

_Curled up into her blankets, she cried into her pillow until she fell back into fitful sleep. When Veronica crawled into her bed and woke her up later that morning, she felt lighter. As if she survived something soul shaking. Perhaps she had._

“What are you going to do?” Veronica asks gently. 

“I don’t know.” Betty rubs her arms, the chill of the air reminding her she’d forgotten a coat as she ran up to the roof. “What else can I do? The ball is in his court, it has been this whole time.” 

“Why?” 

“You know why.” 

“Yeah, you did something dumb years ago. I think it’s time to either move past it or him,” Veronica says in a soft voice. “I don’t think the punishment is fitting the crime anymore.” 

“Maybe. I don’t think it’s about the action, I think it’s about the who,” Betty confides quietly.

Veronica’s silence is loud against the sounds of the city streets below. 

“When we were kids and Archie and I lived next to each other, Jughead was always the odd man out. Not intentionally, but it’s easier to play video games or hide and seek when you’re twenty feet away from each other,” Betty tells her, turning to lean against the railing. “Maybe we should have paid more attention to when we were playing together, to realize that Jug always had to come to us—” 

“You were kids,” Veronica interrupts, reaching for Betty’s hand. “It’s okay not to be aware of everything when you’re ten.” 

“I know,” Betty says with a nod. “But then I think about how we were getting older and my crush on Archie pushed me further away from Jughead because I was caught up in the fantasy I had of being some sort of power couple with the boy next door and I wonder if I hadn’t, if I had been there for him more, if he wouldn’t have been so insecure about how much I love him?” 

“Why are you in charge of Jughead’s insecurities?” 

“I’m not. But—” 

“No,” Veronica cuts in sternly. “Jughead’s issues are something he needs to figure out for himself. I get it, he was always worried you would realize Archie was ready to sweep you off your feet and then—then you kissed Archie. During one of the weirdest years of our lives, you made a mistake you can’t take back. But you can choose to never do it again. If that’s not enough for him while he’s in love with you, it’ll never be enough.” 

Betty’s head falls forward. “I just want him to be happy, V.” 

“And you make him happy! The only person who’s not making him happy is him.” Veronica steps close to her, wrapping her arms around her chilled shoulders. “He loves you. If that’s not enough, then fine, it’s not enough and you can both move on and we can become murder girlfriends, taking stupid rich men for all they're worth before retiring to Tahiti.” 

A wet laugh escapes her. “Veronica.” 

“I’m serious. It’s the perfect retirement plan.” Veronica smirks and stares out at the night sky. “Besides, I got you to move in with me, didn’t I? I can get you to come around eventually.”

“I believe you.” Standing, Betty hugs Veronica tightly. “Thank you.” 

“You’re leaving me here alone, aren’t you?” 

“Veronica, it’s your party,” Betty says, amused. 

“Well if you’re going to point that out,” Veronica pouts, crossing her arms before rolling her eyes. “Fine! Go find your not-boyfriend and carry him through another existential crisis.” 

“Are you sure? I can stay.” 

“It’s only ten-ish, anyway, and you’re too hot, you’ll distract from my perfection. Shoo,” she replies, gesturing for her to leave. “Go on. And don’t forget your coat this time!” 

Nodding, Betty hugs her one last time before darting back through the door to the roof and running down the stairs to grab her coat and bag. Not sure how long it would take to catch a car to his place, she’s surprised when she finds one waiting next to the building. 

“You Betty?” the driver yells through an open window, and she barely mumbles a yes before climbing into the backseat, checking her phone for the text she already knows is there. 

**You owe me** 💖 

Sending back a quick thank you, she gives the driver directions to Jughead’s apartment while counting to one hundred twice, trying to calm herself down. Throwing the driver a tip, she bolts out of the car when he pulls up next to Jughead’s building. Running up the steps, she only stops once to debate whether or not she should take her shoes off. She shakes off the impulse with one look at the floor before deciding being sanitary is more important than easing the ache in her arches. 

Throwing her shoulders back, she tosses her hair behind her and steels her spine before knocking on his door. She should have texted, but she didn’t want to take the chance he might tell her not to come over. Or take the chance of being ignored. 

Plausible denial of his reaction was the only thing holding her together while waiting for him to open the door. 

Or, it would be if he was actually answering the door. Pressing her ear up against the door, she hears nothing but silence. No footsteps, no TV, music. Nothing. Stepping back, she feels herself wilt with a heavy exhale. 

He’s not even home. 

Reaching for her phone that she’d tucked into her bag, she sends him a quick text. 

**Can I see you?**

She orders a ride as she walks back down the stairs, wincing with each step of her heels hitting the hard ground. Checking her phone three times, her stomach dropping a little lower with each time when there was no new notification, she promises herself she won’t cry until she’s safely tucked in her own bed, away from Veronica’s sympathetic eyes. 

With a tired sigh, she curls into the backseat, remembering how she and Jughead had gotten where they are now. 

_After he’d left her bed before the sun had come all the way up, she hadn’t tried to contact him. Like with Veronica, she decided to let him choose when and if he wanted to see or talk to her again._

_She tried to forget about the encounter after a month. After two, she mostly succeeded in pretending the scars on her heart hadn’t been ripped open again. The third month had her agreeing to go on another date that Veronica insisted was just the thing she needed to get the gloom off._

_Betty wasn’t so sure, but she’d reluctantly agreed to go out with another friend of a friend that Veronica had started seeing. Nice. They were all nice. Veronica made sure of that much._

_He dropped her off politely at her door. A kiss on the cheek. A promise to call her later._

_She believed him._

_Her key was halfway into the lock when she heard him._

_“He seemed nice.”_

_Jumping, she almost swung her bag and had her keys in her hand ready to go in defense when she saw who it was. “Jughead. You scared me.”_

_A nod. He stepped forward._

_“I’m sorry I didn’t call.”_

_Betty’s loose ponytail swung as she shook her head. “It’s fine.”_

_He shrugged like he didn’t know what to say._

_“What are you doing here, Jug?”_

_His brows drew together. “I’m not sure. I don’t like that I left like a coward the last time.”_

_Before she could stop herself, she cocked her head to the side and blurted, “Just the last time?”_

_Jughead flinched._

_“I’m sorry,” Betty immediately apologized, wrapping her arms around her waist. “You didn’t deserve that.”_

_“No, I did,” Jughead said, stepping closer to her. “I should—we should have talked after we—”_

_“Slept together?” Betty supplied with a rueful smile._

_“Yeah.” He pushed his hair off his forehead. “Can we talk?”_

_“Sure.” She unlocked the door and gestured for him to go in, shutting and locking the door behind her. “We can, uh, talk in the living room if you want?”_

_His tone was playful but controlled. “Don’t trust me in your bedroom?”_

_“Have we ever made good choices in there?”_

_“I like to think so.”_

_Amused, she huffed before moving to sit on the sofa._

_He stood next to the coffee table Veronica had picked out and looked as awkward as she felt._

_“Betty, I should have called you and I’m sorry I didn’t.”_

_“I understand why you didn’t,” she said softly, wringing her hands together nervously._

_She heard him exhale. He rocked back on his feet and lifted a shoulder in a half shrug._

_“I picked up the phone at least a hundred times,” he admitted._

_“But you didn’t call. So why are you here now?” Betty stared up at him, willing him to just lay it out on the line, once and for all. “I’m not sure what you want from me.”_

_“I want to promise you tomorrow, but I can’t,” he said, closing his eyes for a moment before he held her gaze again. “And I don’t know how to be with you without that.”_

_She nodded and blinked, trying to keep the tears at bay. When one slipped free, he stepped around the table and gently wiped it away with his thumb before tilting her chin up towards him._

_“Can you promise me tonight?” she’d asked with hope, reaching for his hand, pushing her cheek into his palm._

_His smile was soft. “Yeah. That, I can do.”_

She stares up at the barely there stars, resting her face against the cold glass of window as they drive through the city streets, thinking about how often her apologies had ended with a walled off Jughead and her own tears. She knows they can’t keep doing what they’re doing. Vowing to fix it or let him go, she thanks and pays the driver before she sees the commotion outside of her building. 

Forgetting how badly her feet still hurt, she runs towards it, recognizing both voices. 

“Why are you here?” Jughead almost shouts, irritation clear on his face. “Is there anything I want that you don’t already have?” 

“What are you talking about?” Archie asks, dumbfounded. 

Standing behind Jughead, Betty presses her hands over her mouth, stomach plummeting. 

“It’s not enough that your parents love you, is it? It’s not enough to be good at all those stupid hobbies you thought we all cared about, right? It’s not enough that you rejected her when she wanted you, you just had to remind everyone that Archie Andrews gets what he wants?” Jughead shouts, pushing against Archie’s chest. 

“Jug, no!” Betty yells, putting herself between them. “Don’t.” 

Jughead’s face twists with shame. “Betty.” 

“What is going on?” Archie’s voice sounds far away even though Betty knows he’s less than a foot behind her. “Betty? You’re seeing Jughead again?” 

“What?" Jughead's tone is devastated. "You’ve been hanging out with Archie and he doesn’t know about us?” 

Betty starts shaking, her nerves and the cold crawling across her skin. “It’s not what you think, I swear. I’ve seen him maybe three times in the last year. He comes in from Riverdale, tries to talk to Veronica and then I don’t see him for another few months.” 

“Jug, man—” 

“Don’t talk to me,” Jughead snaps, stepping back. “I don’t want to hear it.” 

“That’s not fair,” Archie argues, trying to step around her. “Betty—” 

“Don’t talk to her either!” Jughead yells, cutting him off. “Didn’t we already go through this once?” 

“Jesus, Jughead, what’s your problem? You’re still hung up on something that happened years ago?” Archie glares and shakes his head. “You never could let anything go.” 

“I let plenty go,” Jughead responds in a low and dangerous voice. “You knew! You knew how I felt about her and you still went after her.” 

Archie’s shoulders fall. “It was a mistake, Jug.” 

“And when you betrayed me for Hiram or Alice—” 

“Not everything is about you, Jughead!” Archie shouts, trying again to step around Betty. “You’re so self-centered, man. It’s like you don’t ever think outside of your own problems.” 

“Me?” Jughead laughs in disbelief. “Everything in your whole life is about you! Your music, your sports, your boxing, your idiotic bullshit dictated our entire friendship.” 

“I’m not the one who joined a gang in high school, am I?” 

Jughead’s heavy breathing is pushing his chest out. “I did what I had to do! You’re the one who ended up so obsessed with your girlfriend’s mafia daddy that you forgot which one you were dating. But not before you outed my dad as a Serpent in front of Betty because why again? It’s okay for you to run around with the mob or start some sort of low rent vigilante group but when it comes to me or my family—” 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Archie interrupts, perplexed. 

“You’ve never thought I was good enough for her, did you?” Jughead asks, seething, his face softening when Betty reaches out to touch his cheek. 

“You involved her in a gang, Jughead!” 

Betty spins on her heel, pushing at Archie. “I made my choices! And sometimes they were stupid but they were mine to make. Don’t blame him for the things I agreed to do. I joined the Serpents because I chose to.” 

“Betty,” Jughead murmurs from behind her, pulling her away from Archie, “he’s always going to blame me or Veronica for things. Or Hiram Lodge. My dad. Your mom. It’s never going to be his fault or yours.” 

Her face falls and she nods before she turns in his arms to cry against his chest. 

“It’s like you forget, Jughead, how often you put the world on her shoulders over the choices you made. Do you know what we went through over your stupid fake death senior year? Do you have any idea what that was like for her? I doubt it. And you know why?” 

Jughead doesn’t answer. He stays still, running a hand up and down her back, but she can feel how fast his heart is beating against her cheek, even through his jacket. 

“Because it’s always about you, man. Always.” 

Lifting her head, Betty takes Jughead’s face in her hands, willing him to look at her. “That’s not true. I did it because I love you.” 

His gaze is wary and disbelieving, eyes darting between her and Archie. 

“Your fight was my fight. That was who we were, remember?” Betty runs her thumbs over his jaw. “I never meant to hurt you.” 

“I know. Does it matter anymore?” 

“I want it to.” 

“That’s not what I mean.” 

“I don’t know how many times you want to hear it but I’ll keep telling you if that’s what you need.” 

“Don’t.” Jughead takes her face in his hands. “You don’t need to say it anymore.” 

“Why,” a shrill voice calls out, “is Betty crying? Again?” 

“Ronnie,” Archie says, relieved. “Thank god.” 

“What the hell is going on?” 

“Nothing,” Archie replies quickly and Jughead snorts, shaking his head. 

“Clearly that’s not true.” Veronica’s foot is tapping on the steps. “Betty?” 

“I’m okay, V,” Betty promises with a sniff before burying herself further into Jughead’s hold. 

“Jughead,” Veronica starts with apprehension, “why don’t you take Betty upstairs. There’s still about ten minutes until midnight and I, for one, would like to start the new year with Betty not getting sick because of some dick waving contest, since you two still clearly can’t help yourselves.” 

Betty hears a muttered, "Jesus, Veronica," before Jughead leads her up the steps. She feels Veronica’s hand on her arm briefly before they walk through the door and to the elevators. 

“Should we have left her alone with Archie?” she asks, leaning into the wall of the elevator, letting the side of her head rest against it to take a deep breath. 

“It’s either that or I punch him again,” Jughead jokes, scrubbing a hand across his face. 

“Why’d you leave earlier?” Betty stares at the ground, not wanting to face him when he answers. “Why’d you leave when you saw me with Archie yesterday?” 

“I don’t have a good answer,” Jughead admits. “Jealousy, mostly. We’re not dating and you have every right to talk to whoever you want. And it’s my fault that we’re not dating, isn’t it?” 

She picks at one of the buttons on her coat. “You don’t owe me anything, Jug.” 

“We’re sleeping together regularly, I think I owe you at least a little.” 

A small laugh escapes her. “I think the orgasms are payment enough.” 

“That’s not what I mean and you know it. We pretended what happened the last time never happened but it did, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” she whispers, her eyes finding him before getting lost in the memory. 

_He slid into her with a groan, her legs wrapped firmly around his hips. Staring up at him, she watched the way his shoulders flexed. The way his hair fell across his forehead. The corded muscles in his arms as he held himself above her._

_She never knew when it would be the last time, so each time was savored. Memorized, just in case._

_Knowing what it was like to go years without the weight of his body on hers was a deep ache that she wasn’t sure would ever go away._

_A hungry gaze that ran across her body. Heavy palms and long fingers that caressed her skin. Lips on hers, teeth biting her jaw until she moaned, the muscle memory of someone who knew exactly how to tease her. To please her. The groan of her name murmured into her ear with hands that knew which part of her hair she wanted pulled. The snapping of hips hitting her with each thrust. The way he buried his face in her neck when he came, the heat of his breath sending a shiver through her nerves. It was in the way she kept her eyes open when she came, to hold his stare when the shock of pleasure lit her on fire._

_It was that time, when her toes curled and she’d twister her fingers in his hair, falling apart around him when he’d said it._

_“I love you.”_

_His face had been terrified when he’d realized what he’d said._

_It had been the first time it had slipped out. Her fear of driving him away keeping her mouth shut and the walls around his heart keeping his silence._

_She hadn’t said anything, pretended she hadn’t heard it. He let her._

_He looked relieved, even._

_Another scar on her heart opened and closed in the space of a single breath._

“Did you mean it?” she asks, knowing that he’d admitted he still loved her to Veronica but needing to hear him say it to her. 

“Of course I did.” His eyes almost burning her with their intensity. “I never stopped.” 

“I love you too,” she says, the corners of her mouth curling up into a wide grin. “I never stopped, either.” 

He takes her hand and leads her out of the elevator as it comes to stop and the doors slide open. 

“Do you want a drink?” he questions conversationally like the last ten minutes of roller coaster emotions hadn’t thrown them off a proverbial cliff. 

“Uh, no,” Betty answers, remembering Reggie’s overly potent concoction from earlier in the night. “Let’s go to my room, okay?” 

“Are you flirting with me, Miss Cooper?” 

Betty hides her smile in his shoulder, pulling on his arm to lead him to her room. He’s standing straighter, like the weight he’d been carrying had been lifted off of him and he can breathe again. She knows the feeling. 

“Maybe later.” Betty sees Veronica walk in alone and catches her eye. Shaking her head, Veronica’s shoulders stiffen and she puts on her hostess face before directing herself into the first group of people she can find. “But it might be nice to go somewhere quiet, don’t you think?” 

“Sounds great,” he says, tugging her through her darkened doorway before turning on the lamp sitting on her nightstand before plopping on the edge of the bed. “C’mere.” 

He takes her hips and sits her on his lap, the way they’d done so often in high school. Even when there was a spot for her to sit, he seemed to prefer her to be as close as she could get. 

“So,” he starts, trailing a finger up her spine before pushing the ends of her hair over her shoulder, giving him access to the back of her neck, “do you have any New Year’s resolutions?” 

She can’t stop the giggle that bursts out of her, feeling the lightest she had in far too long. Staring at him over her shoulder, she catches his smirk and knows he’s as happy as she is in that moment. 

“No,” she tells him, shaking her head slowly back and forth, “I think I’ll just take it one day at a time.” 

“Sounds like a good plan.” He wraps his arms around her waist before nipping at the soft he’d uncovered. “Do you want to hear mine?” 

“I thought you didn’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. You said ‘they’re nothing but a failed promise with yourself that has no accountability for follow through with the exception of whichever gym people sign away their souls and bank accounts to.’” 

“That’s true, but I finally have a good reason to make one this year.” When he lifts her up, Betty almost kicks out when she realizes her feet aren’t going to meet the floor. “I think this year, I’ll promise all my tomorrows to you. What do you think?” 

Hands covering her mouth as he lays her back on the bed, tears spring to Betty’s eyes. She reaches for him, dragging him into a tight embrace, nodding quickly. “I’d like that.” 

They can hear the party chanting the countdown outside of her door and he presses a kiss to her forehead. 

_Three_

A kiss to her cheek. 

_Two_

A kiss on the other. 

_One_

“Happy New Year’s, Betts,” he says before his lips find hers and she thinks this year might be the best one yet.

**Author's Note:**

> I got all schmoopy at the end, I know. I’m soft like that. I want them to kiss and make up. 
> 
> So I’m manifesting it here: 
> 
> ⠀⠀(\ (\  
> （｡･ω･｡)つ━☆・*。  
> ⊂ ノ ・゜+.  
> しーＪ °。+ *´¨)  
>  .· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)  
>  (¸.·´ (¸.·'* 
> 
> Anyways, if you’re up for it (i hope you are) that you’ll tell me what you thought (no yelling, i’m soft) and that you have a great start to what will hopefully be a better year!
> 
> And please accept my besos on the countdown for tonight. Trust me, they're worth it.💜 
> 
> As always, you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you want.


End file.
